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Disney's Pop Quiz – the Answers (how'd you do?)

Here are the answers to yesterday’s pop quiz on Disney. How did you do?

POP QUIZ

1. Disneyland and Disney World are the same place

FALSE – Disneyland (DL) is in Anaheim, California and Walt Disney World (WDW) is in Orlando, Florida

Walt Disney ran out of real estate in California – he had bigger dreams than he could build in California, so he started buying up swamp land in central Florida (under different names – so folks wouldn’t know what he was doing).

2. Theme parks are all that Disney does

FALSE

Sure there is DL, WDW, Hong Kong Disney, Euro Disney – but

there is also Disney Cruise Line – 2 moderate-deluxe cruise ships very full (Disney Wonder and Disney Magic – more coming with Disney Dream)

don’t forget Disney’s tour company Adventures by Disney – offers the Disney brand for quality, no characters, but family touring trips – trips to London and Paris, tours of Italy, ranching in Arizona

there is also Disney Vero Beach and Disney Hilton Head

3. You can see all there is to see at Walt Disney World in Orlando in 4 days

In a week, if you go from sun up to well past sun down, you will not see everything – you have to hit the highlights – why not plan, scout out the “must sees”, and plan on coming back?

4. If your kids are younger than 10, you’re wasting your time going to Disney because they won’t remember a thing

FALSE

The people who say this still celebrate Christmas and birthdays with one-year-olds

There’s a world to explore with wee ones – Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom is designed for the youngest

I’ve visited WDW while pregnant, with a baby in diapers, and a preschooler – and now going again

Wide eyes of kids when see characters – they’re as real as Santa

when kiddies truly believe in the magic, the memories (and photo ops) for mom and dad are priceless

character meals offer special magical times with wee ones – I help in making dining reservations – have breakfast with Cinderella at the castle, lunch with Winnie-the-Pooh and gang, and supper with Mickey and Minnie at Chef Mickey – there’s also Lilo and Stitch

everyone’s a kid when it comes to character meals – and the biggest kids (aged 90 and up) love character meals as much as wee ones

there are other benefits to going with wee ones: Kids under 2 – don’t pay for air; kids under 3 – don’t pay for theme park tickets or dining; kids 3-9 have reduced rates on dining and tickets (once 10 or older, priced as adult)

5. If you’re not a ride person, Disney is not for you

FALSE

the rides are fantastic, don’t get me wrong – from easy going “It’s a Small World” to thrill rides like “Everest”

but there is so much else to do at Disney besides rides

Disney is popular with family reunions – grandma and grandpa go with parents and kiddies – everyone can do their own thing in the day or stay together – meet up for meals

Magic Kingdom is for the kiddies – Epcot is designed more for the adults (Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom bring their own pleasures)

Epcot – World Showcase (can wine and dine your way around the world) and future world – top restaurants

there are other Special events : like the Epcot – international food and wine festival September-November, the Epcot – international flower & garden show, the Hollywood Studios – Star Wars Weekends, and the Magic Kingdom – soap stars weekends

Holidays are also done up in fine style withMickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, Mickey’s Pirate and Princess Party in winter, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, Holidays around the World with Epcot – Candlelight Procession – celebrities narrate Christmas story

6. The best time to go to the parks is when the kids are out of school

False

it may just be the worse time for crowds and cost

Easter, Christmas, July 4th – avoid if you can – or plan around crowds, make sure you stay at an onsite hotel to take advantage of extra magic hours, and plan your meals! (there’s never Really a bad time to go to Disney)

7. You’ll have the best time going to Disney if you go by the seat-of-your-pants with no planning at all

False (well, again, you can never have a bad time at Disney)… but remember

WDW is 47 square miles – you can hit highlights in 4 days, but with no planning, and no advance dining reservations, you may also be buying yourself a big headache with queues at rides, and queues at meals

you can have an absolutely FANTASTIC time if you plan – just a little – make reservations

I do excel spreadsheet for my clients – I give them hours of all the parks, parade times, fireworks, and tell them the “extra magic hours” – I don’t plan vacays down to minute, but I help client’s plan what’s important, make dining reservations for sit-down meals so not 2 or 3 hour queue there – character meals

and, of course, I meet with clients – give them maps for kids, dvd, and answer questions

8. Magic Kingdom is the happiest place on earth because alcohol is in abundance

false

it is the happiest place on earth, but not because of alcohol 🙂 – MK is dry. Even Liberty Tree Tavern serves only birch beer

9. Staying Off-site is cheaper than staying On-site

False

Disney has a range of accommodation options – from value, moderate, deluxe hotels, to deluxe villas – there are 22 onsite hotels

there is something for every budget – amenities change, you have to decide what bells and whistles you want, and how important location is (you pay less if you travel more to get to the parks – the closest hotels, on the monorail, then, tend to be the most expensive!)

you can stay at a value hotel for only $100-150 per night (depending on the season)

If you stay offsite, you have to pay to park each day ($14/day) and you have to rent a car – don’t need to do that if onsite

So many extras you get staying onsite, you can’t get if you stay offsite – it’s so worth it to stay onsite:

you can take advantage of Extra magic hours (enter a park 1 hr early, stay up to 3 hrs later at another)

you have free transportation to and from the airport with Disney’s Magical Express

you have free transportation in and around parks (bus, monorail, boat)

if you rent car, you get free parking at parks and resort

you can buy a myriad of Disney dining plans

you have maximum flexibility buying tickets (and can upgrade onsite if you want to make changes)

you can shop at the parks, charge items to your room, and have them delivered back to your hotel, and

you are surrounded by magic 24 hours

10. Food is the most expensive part of visiting Disney

FALSE

Regular dining plan if stay onsite – ~$42 USD / night/ adult and $12 USD/ night/ child è 42×7=294 for week for adult and $84 for child (one table service, one counter service, one snack per night – this really is plenty of food, my family buys a dining plan every time we go to Disney, and often have food left over so that we are brown bagging a lunch to have on the way to the airport)

Tickets – a 7 day park hopper pass will cost ~$320.57 USD/ adult, and $296.07 for a child aged 3-9 (children under 3 enter the park for free)

Air – generally going to be ~$500 per person, you might spend hours trying to save a couple of dollars, but generally air is going to be the most expensive part of the trip (from Ottawa, anyway – can be some savings if you fly from Montreal or Toronto – or Syracuse, Plattsburgh, or Buffalo – but then you have to contend with driving time, parking costs, and possibly border crossings for my Canadian friends) – know the air costs are going to be big upfront , own it, and deal with it as best you can! Unless you have frequent flier miles (and then have usually still pay for taxes), the reality of the situation is that air travel is expensive.

11. Buy base tickets to see all you can, park hoppers are a waste of time

FALSE

See more for only $50 pp for your entire stay

buy a park hopper ticket over buying a base ticket – a park hopper ticket lets you come and go to multiple parks each day – that way, you’re free to stay in MK, if you feel so inclined; but you aren’t stuck to do so – if MK is busy, you can hit the highlights and move to Epcot; if it’s killer hot and the lack of shade in AK gets to you, you can go elsewhere

you can also maximize the fun of the Extra magic hours with a park hopper ticket – suppose that Magic Kingdom opens early, & Hollywood Studios open late – if you’re onsite, you get to enter MK at 8am (other guests not staying onsite can’t enter until 9), and you get to stay at HS until midnight (offsite guests have to leave at 9) – the extra magic hours let you go and come from parks

just remember: you can’t use extra day on base count to enter more one park on the same day (e.g., cannot purchase a 10 base base ticket, and try to use one day count to visit MK and one day count to visit Epcot on the same day – Disney’s systems are wise to that ploy. If you try, you’ll be refused entry, and escorted to the ticket window to upgrade your ticket to a park hopper)

12. two 5-day-park hopper tickets cost the same as one 10-day park hopper ticket

false

Disney charges the most for one day tickets, then every day you add, the price per day goes down

A 10-day ticket is the longest day count you can purchase (other than an annual pass), and it gives you the most value

A 5 day park hopper ticket costs ~$1239.68 USD for family of 4(2 adults and 2 children over 10)

A 10 day park hopper ticket costs ~$1346.16 USD for the same family of 4 – that’s incredible! You get to spend 5 extra days at the park (doubling your time) for $106.48 USD. That’s ~$25 per person, or less than $5 per day for extra time in the parks.

A 5-day ph ticket will cost each person $309.92 USD, or ~$62/ day – so the savings at buying the longest possible ticket stay is incredible.

Stretch your vacation time at Disney – you’ll see more, and save more!

13. with the tough economic times, Disney is really hurting

FALSE (well… not hurting as badly as others…)

There have been oodles of specials in the past year – free dining has been offered several times (and been extended), and there have been gift card promos, free nights on a package, etc. – more specials than even after 9/11 – Disney definitely wants to keep the parks busy… but…

They are also building 2 new ships – announced new cruises to Alaska

They are sailing to Mediterranean

They’ve announced a major expansion of Magic Kingdom

And they’ve raised park ticket prices for first time in a couple of years